Personal Narrative: Lessons Learned From My Failure

Until I walked onto the stage to take a bow, I didn’t realize that I just danced, acted and sang a solo. It took me a long time to get to that fifth grade Christmas play where I wasn’t shy anymore. Due to the fact that I wasn’t Darth Vader anymore, so I didn’t need a mask strapped onto my face to breathe at night. Asthma, respirators and surgeries were what my childhood consisted of and I would have time to, at most, socialize with my family. Years after my final surgery, my currently bubbly-self erupted from within and many of my friends never knew how I was before.

Having grown up in a time and within a society where the terms fail and lose are rarely spoken to children in any aspect of their lives, I generally considered myself a success in everything I did. I received medals, ribbons, certificates, awards, and trophies for academics, sports, and for just being a kid. So in my mind, for the majority of my life, I was unaware that I had failed or lost at anything. And having a father that is a U.S. Marine, failing and losing were not things that I wanted to tell him that I had done. Now that I am tasked to determine how I have grown from my failures, I realize that I have failed, that failure is not the end, and that I have excelled in several areas of my life due to what I have learned from those failures.

Have you ever had something happen to you that made you think you couldn't do what you loved anymore? Well I have. I thought I would never be able to play the sport I loved, basketball, anymore. When I broke my arm in fourth grade in 2012 taught me to persevere,that you can do what you love no matter what, and no matter what bumps you hit in your life you can always come back better.

As I got turned onto my back, fighting for my life, the referee’s hand slaps the mat, and my career of wrestling was over. Throughout all the times I worked out and practiced as hard as I could, my only desire for wrestling was to go to states. Knowing I had the potential, my wrestling coach used life lessons to motivate me throughout the obstacles I faced. Although I never went to states, the lessons I’ve learned from the sport apply to any desire I have in life today. Furthermore, I’ve learned that “some desire is necessary to keep life in motion” to accomplish the goals I have in life.

According to their BMI chart I was considered obese at two hundred and twenty pounds of solid muscle. I was told to drop down to one hundred and eighty pounds. The worst part about it was that I had just three months. I worked hard at the gym, three times a day, seven days a week. While going though this challenged I became homeless. I could not let this stop me because I knew it was all temporary. It took me just about a month and half to drop about forty pounds. It was probably the second hardest thing I ever had to do. When I dropped the weight, I was able to move to Massachusetts with family and keep up the recruitment process in NYC. It was not an easy thing to do, constant mailing, scanning, phone calls, and some traveling back and forth just to complete it all. Finally after a year of the first ever initial call I was being shipped to boot camp in

I have two major obstacles that I have overcome in my last three years of school. My first major obstacle is being able to graduate early, I’ll be the first student at Sheyenne to graduate in three years instead of four. It took a lot of hard work and focus, but with the help that I got from my teachers, I was able to do what I needed. I did two summers of summer school, and worked really hard on completing my all my history online. My second obstacle is getting my CNA licenses. It took a very long time, because I have a lot of testing anxiety. The two years I took getting my license was worth it all in the end, because I got to learn and practice new information. During the process I did give up on myself because I couldn’t pass the test,

The lives I would touch for my legacy would be my family and friends because those are the people that care about me and what I do. That they would help me out with anything I need. My major accomplishment would be a pro soccer player and go to Rutgers College. The other accomplishment in my life would be to get very good grades in school to get a good education.

All throughout my life I loved to run; I even participated in track and cross country all throughout middle school to quench my thirst for a long run. Around the beginning of winter, of my junior year, there came a time when I thought I could no longer run. To further elaborate upon my situation, whenever I would do strenuous physical exercise, or even write in class, my muscles would instantly feel fatigued. It felt very similar to the feeling one gets when their hands have been outside in the frigid cold. I could not even do ten push-ups. Regardless, my muscles would not move as I would like them to. This became a painful obstacle in my daily life. After countless doctor's visits and no signs for a cure I felt hopeless, defeated, and disheartened.

The lessons that we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn from the experience?

My resilience and determination make me a viable candidate for any obstacle that I may face. I have experienced numerous hardships throughout my life. I have faced poverty, I have held my only known relative as they died, I have been molested by a neighbor 40 years older than me who swore to protect me and give me shelter. I have been abused by a mother I did not know I had until after the death of my father.Yet, I am no less than I have ever been. I understand that the difficulties I have faced have given me something. I have learned to be thankful, to persevere, to stand up, and to settle for no less than I am worth. I will face any obstacle with courage and dignity and I will let nothing bar me from bettering myself or others. I am determined

I walked down the concrete road singing one of my songs that I wrote recently about boys and trust. I didn't know anything about this topic, but I knew that I loved to perform and nothing was going to stop me from doing so. When I sung I often imagined myself as one of the girls from the hit movie Cheetah girls. Today I was Adrienne Bailon, a sassy chick from Cheetah girls who often brought the group together. Tomorrow I would possibly be Raven, the one who left the group. Every day I had a plan on who I was going to be and what I was going to sing. I would wake up every morning ready to start my daily routine of being one of the hit singers with a famous boyfriend who supported her. Around this time, I was 8 and I knew nothing about boys or fame, but I did know that I loved to perform. I know the main questions are: What happened? Did I ever achieve my goals? If so how did you achieve them and if not what stopped you? To partially

rang throughout my body, and thoughts of failure creeped their way into my mind. Then when the ball finally found its way out-of-bounds, and I subbed in those thoughts faded away.

In life we are all bound to make mistakes given that nobody is perfect. We are all human and we all make mistakes and failures. I have made many failures in my life; some strong and some extreme, however one failure that recently affected me was failng my drivers test. Now of course, failures are subjective and how much it should affect you is to each of ts own, but me failing mine deeply affected me. I was sad for so many day and nearly cried afterwards, but I decided to keep my head up. I’m a prefectionist and everyone was looking forard to me passing my first time, but unfortunatley I did not. It took me a while to move on, but I did lern from it. What I learned from my failure is that I should neever give up, I should continue to practing,

I said sorry. For the time I hit my sister. For the time I spilled food on the floor. For the times I was right. For the times I was wrong. For the times I made mistakes. I meant it when I said those three words, “I am sorry.” Because they represented much more. They represented the guilt and regret that I was feeling. And I was forgiven. For the time I left a bruise on my sister. For the time I made a mess. For the times I was right. For the times I was wrong. For the times I made a mistake on accident or on purpose. But saying sorry didn’t make the bruises go away. The words didn’t pick up the mess. They didn’t take back the accusations that were right or wrong. But I was still forgiven, even after I repeatedly made the same mistakes.

As memories race through my head each day I realize how I have failed. Not in academics. Not within relationships or at shaping my own character. I failed at living my childhood the best I could.